Jamali for conducive environment to protect children
Acting Chairman of the Senate Jan Mohammad Khan Jamali has called on parliamentarians to work out strategies for providing a favourable environment to protect children from violence and exploitation. He said that parliamentarians should play a central role to ensure that all children live in safety and dignity. He said that our future depends on children and that it is imperative to create a protective environment for them. The urgent need to address child protection issues, he said, can be gauged by the fact that these issues intersect with each of the Millennium Development Goals, most of which cannot be achieved without effective measures to protect children. He made these observations while delivering the presidential address at the conclusion of the Regional Parliamentary Seminar, organized by the Senate of Pakistan in cooperation with IPU and UNICEF. Referring to the unanimous adoption of recommendations aimed at protecting children from violence and exploitation, the Acting Chairman advocated directing such noble initiatives towards the promotion of legislation prohibiting corporal punishment and establishing strict penalties for sexual abuse. He said that Pakistan attaches great significance to improving the lot of children and upholding their rights.
Daily Mail (Pakistan) - 3 July 2007

IPU: Release Beltran
The Inter-Parliamentary Union reiterated its call to the government to release Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, since he is no longer a security risk. "We know that that he is 74 years old. He has a serious heart condition and perhaps there are good reasons for the government to keep him in the hospital", said Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs, of the IPU's Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians. Beltran is currently under hospital arrest at the Philippine Heart Centre. The high-level IPU mission arrived here to conduct a three-day investigation of the human rights situation and the reported harassment of militant party-list representatives. The fact-finding mission intends to find out if the government indeed violated the rights of Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna; Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano of Kilusang Magbubuking in the Phipippines; and Liza Masa of Gabriela, and Joel Virador, also of Bayan Muna.
People's Journal (Philippines) and AFP (Agence France Presse) - 19 April 2007

IPU ready to pave way for Iran-US talks
The Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Anders B. Johnsson, announced the Union's readiness to prepare the ground for possible direct Iran-US parliamentary talks. Johnsson made the remarks in a meeting with the Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi while referring to the role of the Union in promoting parliamentary democracy and holding talks among the world's parliaments. The IPU Secretary General expressed his hope that the Union might help to ease tensions between Iran and the US through a process of bilateral parliamentary negotiations.
IRNA (Iranian news agency) - 30 June 2007